August: Small Miracles

Mini Miracle 1: Alpengeist
August began with me and Granger spending a few hours at Busch Gardens. Granger is a really big fan of amusement parks and so it was great fun to be there, just the two of us. Here's the exciting part. For years Granger has refused to ride roller coasters. Our Mom made a brilliant rule that every time he goes to Busch Gardens he has to ride a new ride. So when Granger and I went I handed him the map and he silently sat and traced all the roller coasters with his finger then just said, "Alright, we go this way" and led me to this bad boy: The Alpengeist! We rode the darn thing and the whole time he just sat quietly, then when everything stopped I looked at him and he just smiled and said (more to himself than to me) "I totally liked it!" A small but most exciting miracle!

Mini Miracle 2: Mini Family Reunion
I have two great-aunts who happen to be twins (Doris and Delores). I've been lucky enough to spend lots of time with both of them and I love love love love LOVE them dearly. My Aunt Doe has been living in West Virginia and my Aunt Delores is all the way in Springville, Utah. The miracle here is that both of them were in the same place on a day when I could be there too and it was wonderful! I also loved seeing Aunt Doe's house again as I have so many fond memories there.

Uncle Dell, Aunt Delores and Aunt Doris

The view from her house. So gorgeous. 

Mini Miracle 3: Tennessee
My amazing mother was asked to speak at a YSA conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The mini miracle is that Kathryn and I were able to go with her. We had such a blast having an all-girl road trip and the conference was wonderful. Mom, of course, did a wonderful job and all the presentations were really inspiring.

Cards we made at the service project to send to a local children's hospital. 

We stopped at Davy Crockett's birthplace on the way home. Duh doi.

Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, this mountaintop, the very mountaintop.

Mini Miracle 4: Kathryn Day!
Knowing that Kathryn's time before her Utah adventure was quickly running out we planned a tourist day. The concept of a tourist day is that you explore your hometown in a way that you would if you were traveling through and experiencing it for the first time. People seriously underestimate Rockbridge County. There are so many fun things to do here and we did several of them.

The bathrooms at The Pink Cadillac Diner. 

We went to the Natural Bridge Zoo. It was actually surprisingly affordable. I've been to the Safari Park and was kinda disappointed. It was pricey and definitely more geared towards children. You absolutely need to do it once, but it wasn't really how we wanted to spend our time (or money). The zoo was a great alternative and we really enjoyed it. I mean, there were tigers and stuff.

This is a picture of us intentionally looking bored and annoyed because we were waiting to do something boring and annoying...

Oh no, wait. We were waiting to ride an elephant. We rode an elephant. Her name was Beautiful and we sat on her and she walked around. Still can't get over that.

I tamed a wild hippopotamus. 

Kathryn did not do as well with the hippo-taming. 

Mini Miracle 5: Granger Whisperers

Granger is the best. Granger is awesome. Granger can be so difficult to teach sometimes. In my family religion is very influential in our daily life. We talk about God and prayer and church consistently and those aspects of our thinking make a huge impact on decision-making and daily actions. Granger has taught my family a lot about how abstract religion can be and how important it is to ensure that your religious beliefs are applicable in practical, consistent, explicable ways. All the abstract aspects of religion are extremely difficult for Granger to understand (don't we all need guidance on some of theologies toughest questions?) and so our little family unit has done our best to make things clear. But man, we needed some back up on a couple things! That's where these guys come in.

Elder Brandon, Granger and his ridiculously long legs, Elder Olsen and Elder Nelson

Not the best photo, but isn't it great to see how comfortable Granger is with these guys? They each had their own role that made their time with our family so meaningful and made them the perfect teachers for Granger. Elder Olsen in particular had a real gift with knowing when to push Granger and when to let Granger teach the rest of us. He was the ultimate Granger whisperer. Elder Brandon seemed immediately comfortable with us and had a way of bringing up ideas or thoughts that really hit home and it was always something none of us had thought of before. Elder Nelson was just about the sweetest guy you'll ever meet and had a knack for keeping us all focused when we got distracted (which we tend to do). They were miracles for our family, and especially for Granger. He has made such strides and needed to see that for himself. Hooray for learning!

Mini Miracle 6: Woods Creek Montessori
This miracle is awesome. I got a full-time job! And I love it. Basically, the director of the school met me while I was picking up some children I was baby-sitting for. She told me to apply for a part-time position that had opened up and once I turned in my application and resume we set up an interview for a Monday afternoon. The weekend before that Monday I got a text from a friend of mine asking if I'd heard about the full-time spot opening up at the same school. So Monday morning I called the director and let her know I'd be interested in the full-time position. Because of that phone call the teacher of the classroom needing full-time support was present for my interview and she and I got along so well that I got the job! I am thrilled and have been there for three weeks now and I love it. I still have some learning to do about Montessori, but for the most part I am really enjoying what I'm experiencing at this great school with amazing co-workers and absolutely loveable children. I am working in the Primary I classroom of 3-5-year-olds and let me tell you, they are hilarious. There's more info and a few photos here: Woods Creek Montessori Basically, it gives me time to teach piano, work on grad school and still pay rent and other bills and feel like I'm doing something fulfilling and productive. This miracle just might earn the Miracle of the Month Award!


So pretty much just another great month. Virginia is green, fall is coming, learning is happening and life is good.

To be continued...

July

July: The month that taught me I need to take more photos.

Seriously, so many great things happened this month and I have no documentation! Well, let's muddle through this lacking-in-visuals-update together.

Independence Day was a Girl's Day this year. Joseph was working EFY, and Dad and Granger were at scout camp which left the female half of the fam to be patriotic on our own. So Mom, Kathryn and I packed our chairs and headed over to VMI for the fireworks show, where we were joined by our dear friend Caleb, thus adding some testosterone to our celebration as well as providing us with a personal photographer. Yay Caleb! It was a lovely night.

An incredibly exciting thing that happened in July is that BETHANY came to visit me. (I say "me", but her family lives here too, so... you know.) I have no pictures of this. None. And I'm mad about it. My fault. Bethany has a bunch but she and her camera are back in Arizona. But the visit was wonderful! More than wonderful, it was very needed and fun and happy and great. I luff her. Betht friend. May be she can send me some photos.... can she? Bethany? (I know you read this!)

I also spent some much-needed and very enjoyable time with my sister. I also luff her. We actually got to do lots of things together, and I took pictures of some of them!

This is from our trip to Sweet Treats in Lexington. For those of you who don't know, they sell really delicious sandwiches and they make the best potato chips I've ever tasted in my life. So good. Isn't she cute? Then for her birthday we spent the day in Roanoke at the mall, Red Robin, and a spontaneous late night movie.

(This next thing is just, you know, kinda whatever, Bob Dylan, blah, blah, boring. I mean, if you hate music or are only part-human then just skip this part)

Bob Dylan! Mom, Kathryn and I drove to VA Beach where we spent a few hours at the ocean and then spent a few hours listening to a legend do what he does best. It was amazing.

A very cloudy day, but it was the beach so even the clouds are more beautiful.

I mean, really, a beautiful day. 

The beach has always been a favorite for our family, but I think especially for the three girls. Anytime we have the chance we go, even if it's just for a brief time. There's something very restorative about the ocean and it was a perfect way to spend an hour or two! I think you can see from these photos how much we love being there.

Mom in her element. 

Dear boys who don't date her, you're seriously so missing out. All the dumb of you.

Oh, and also, Bob Dylan. With his big hair and dressed in black and sounding like a muppet and rocking the harmonica and being ridiculously good at singing songs he has sung for fifty years. I still can't believe we were there.

Bob Dylan right there. He's right there on the keyboard.

Yes, right there.

Thanks to someone gutsier than I, concert rules were broken and part of the concert was put on youtube. This is not really a Dylan song, but it is one of my absolute favorites and I freeeeeeeeeeeaked out pretty much as soon as they played that first little guitar riff. So happy we got to be there for this moment. Bob Dylan sang The Weight and we were there.

So after that adventure July could have just ended and I would have been happy. But first we had to celebrate Harry Potters birthday. So Kathryn really, really loves Harry Potter. I enjoy Harry Potter, but not to her level. As a matter of fact, I haven't read the books since they were first printed forever ago and of course I initially read them in crazed/sleepless 24 hour blocks, so I don't even remember them super well. However! I have recently made a rule that I can read them again but only at the gym and it's brought back all of these memories and Harry Potter happiness. So when Kathryn and I realized that July 31st was coming up (which is Harry's birthday) we obviously had to have a party. You guys, I got pretty excited about this party. Jessie and Bre, I thought of you the whole time. You should have been there.

Super fancy handmade sign, magic wands, and if you look closely you'll see a golden snitch.

Lupin stopped by of course. Such a lovely guy.

Yes, I made golden snitches. I'm so proud of those.

Sirius is my favorite so we had to be Azkaban prisoners for a minute.

But we were happy about it.

See how happy we were? Azkaban's the best!

We made bags too. Really, really awesome Harry Potter bags. We use them all the time.

 

My favorite part is that nowhere on this bag does it actually say "Harry Potter" so you just have to be like-minded people in order to understand without us explaining. Just in case you were wondering, this was Harry's 27th birthday. 

So July was another wonderful and memorable month. I loved every bit of it.

Bob Dylan.

Mission Accomplished (Pretty Much Entirely).

I am not really scared of bugs. I actually do pretty well with bugs. In fact, I have been referred to as "the spider killer" due to my reputation as "that one girl who kills the spiders and then freaks out afterwards if they were really big and scary but she was still okay to kill it first". True story.

However, I am terrified of these:

This is a camel cricket. They are disgusting. They jump fast and high, they can climb walls and hang on ceilings, they splatter everywhere when you do manage to kill them, they jump AT you if you miss, they are the spawn of Satan.

#69 of my 99 in 999 is to face camel crickets without screaming. (Please note, swearing is still allowed; not recommended, but definitely allowed.) This was a tough one. I don't know that I can expect to never, ever, ever scream while facing one of my greatest fears, no matter how hard I try. However, I've been slowly, surely, steadily progressing with this over the past few months. Now comes the big announcement...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I just killed nine of these. Nine. No screaming. Not a single scream. Granted they were not fully grown so they were less likely to jump away, but still, I am seriously so impressed with myself.

So while it is still not a guarantee that I will never scream again, in fact, I can pretty much guarantee that I will at some point, I feel like I have made incredible progress with this goal and I consider it having been achieved.

Because I'm pretty stinking amazing, that's why.

(Seriously, aren't they just disgusting? So gross.)

et redire possunt

Here is the story of my blog name.

It's a pretty good story, guys.

So I have this thing. May be other people do this too. I tend to fluctuate between wishing that the past would repeat itself and being terrified that it actually will. I also can be really hard on myself and I get really overwhelmed by my mistakes. Turns out, I'm super-duper human (one could also say "super-duper average" but that doesn't really make sense) and therefore, I have problems.

Dangit.

Which leads us to Phase 1: Move to Virginia

When you google "Virginia landscape photo" this is the first photo to come up. I'm about to whine a bit about moving back here which, as you can see, is a little ridiculous. Now, back to my issues and fascinating history.

All of these neurosis really came into play with my move back to VA last year. I was leaving a fulfilling place with wonderful friends to go back to Buena Vista; a place I loved but I was completely blind as to what may be awaiting me back in the Beev. It was painful and very scary and so unknown. There were many things I was leaving that were honestly gut-wrenchingly difficult to say goodbye to and things I was about to drive to that I wasn't sure I wanted to face.

On an unrelated but worthwhile note, this very helpful document has informed me that I spelled "gut-wrenchingly" wrong and I probably meant "gut-enchantingly". I did not mean that and I'm not changing it.

Anyway, I'm not sure this is making sense. Basically , it was the battle of dreading certain things being over for good and wishing other things would be over for good, but thinking that they're probably not. Is this hitting home for anyone? Can you think of a better way to articulate it? If so, feel free to share!

So I moved. I was mad that I couldn't just have faith/hope and be happy about everything all the time always everyday, but I was overwhelmingly grateful for the many wonderful memories and experiences I'd had, and for the many trees and loving family eagerly waiting for me in Virginia. It was alright... it was terrifying and sad... but it was alright.

Phase 2: Love of Names Utilized to Alleviate Boredom in a Celtic Shop

I got a job in a Celtic Shop. It was actually pretty fun. I loved learning about this area of history and  also the many interesting people I met. But sometimes it could get really boring (like Numbers. See previous post). Then I was trained on how to use the shop's fancy-pants system to research Armorials.

This is an Armorial. It's a piece of paper that contains information about your family name; the first recording of the name, the Country of origin, your coat of arms, famous people with your name, and the motto of your family if they had one. Now, I happen to LOVE names. They have always been incredibly significant to me and so reading the history of different names was really enjoyable. I looked up pretty much everyone I could think of (yes, you are most likely included in that group). My favorite part were the mottos. How fascinating is it that people hundreds of years ago chose a phrase to define their family at that time and throughout history? Some of my favorites were "To be rather than to seem" "We, the conquerors" and other very Celtic-y inspiring phrases. 

The Bouchelle name, however, has no motto. Very disappointing. But my middle name is Tabor after my paternal Grandmother's side of the family. My middle name has always been special to me, though not for any really particular reasons that I could articulate. I looked  up the Tabor family name and found the following listed as their motto:  

soles occidere et redire possunt 

Lovely, right? But also Latin, which I had to look up. When I did, this is what I found as the translation: 

Suns may set yet rise again

Phase 3: Bam! Life Lesson Learned! 

Um....Guess what. Life is full of phases. Suns absolutely do set. Situations change, people leave, opportunities go by, plans go unrealized, and good things evolve over time! Not saying they're no longer good, but life if fluid and no matter how hard we try to keep that darn sun from setting, it will inevitably go down. 

But! Doesn't the sun rise again? Don't we often turn around in the most confusing moments of our lives only to find small instances of joy? Don't we wake up each day with a new unknown full of promise? Yes, yes we do. So get up! Rise! Of course, we fail and we struggle and we fall and those times when I have failed to make the most of things tend to weigh heavily on me. Then here's the double meaning to the Tabor motto. Life can seem final, can't it? Yet Rise Again. It can seem hopeless, can't it? Yet Rise Again. It can be lonely and draining and there are times when you just keep getting hit. Yet Rise Again! Isn't that beautiful? 

Here's a practical application of this concept: Today I skyped with one of the people I miss the most in Utah. She is four and basically awesome. Skyping with her today was just a reminder for me that yes, things change, suns set, but guess what? They don't stay that way. Just because I left people I love that doesn't mean those relationships can't progress and grow. I did not, however, share with my four-year-old friend the lessons learned from my ancestors Latin motto. We talked mostly about princesses and avocados. Far more important. 

Yet Rise Again has been a symbol for me of hope and courage and vulnerability and trust and teachability. (My computer has just informed me "Teachability" is not a word. Perhaps I mean "gut-enchantingly"?) I have said it to myself countless times over the past year and it has been one of the main influences in this time at home being such a positive experience. Because surprise, surprise, the big scary thing has turned out to be a wonderful decision. 

Redire. Rise. What a powerful word. 

 

JUNE!

Oh, the month of June! It was a good month.
I went up to DC and visited my friend Ginger. We visited the monuments at night, explored the metro, visited Arlington and spent a wonderful two hours at the Museum of American History.

GOOD STUFF EATERY!

  My first visit to Arlington was memorable and so beautiful.

 Julia Child's kitchen! That was a real treat.

Jefferson: Possibly my very favorite monument. 

I went with my siblings to visit my Grandad and ask him questions about his life and our family history. Oh my goodness, what an honor to be one of his Grandchildren, and what a treat to sit in their beautiful home and hear such wonderful stories! (This photo is from several years ago. I need to remember to take photos next time I go and not just videos! Isn't this a great photo though?)

And oh, Kathryn and I just went to an Avett Brother's concert. No biggie. It was her first concert (EVER!) and my third time seeing the Avetts. This also met goal #79 of my 99 in 999. We both left this concert even more in love with them. They are fantastic. See how happy we are?

My friend Melba inspired me to finally visit Foamhenge. That's right, Foamhenge. It's a legend in my home County but, even after almost 16 years, I had never been there. Now I finally have, and it was a beautiful day!

I drove to Richmond and then Virginia Beach with some of my dearest friends from College. It's truly amazing to me to think about how we've seen each other through so many phases of life. Now one of us has two children, one has a baby on the way, one has a new husband, and one (me) is pursuing the career of her dreams. Yet, even with all those different roles we're playing, we could still have each other laughing and learning and growing. It was an absolute blast. I love these women!

Aaaaand this. That's a chubby little two-month-old hand. I have the best job ever.

Also, my 99 in 999 is still moving along. I have officially accomplished #85. And here is the proof! (The delicious proof.)

 I also managed to accomplish #24, 26, 27 and 28. (You don't get a photo of my new underwear. You're welcome.)

Due to goal #68 my little apartment has looked like this for a month. The pile towards the front of the photo is all stuff I'm getting rid of. The rest are things I need to sort through and store. This project has been, and continues to be, a lot of work. But it feels so good to see my belongings shrink!

This incredibly cute and wonderful and creative and useful and darling thing that I made is one step on my way to completing #96. I'm a little proud of it.

Thank you June for the memories and the laughs and the plentiful naps!

Love,

Elizabeth

ReNewed Year Resolutions!

Did you set New Year Resolutions this January?

Yeah, me too.

So, how are those going? If they're going great then you should probably stop reading my blog because we will not connect in many areas. (Unless you swear sometimes or watch Arrested Development. Then you might have a chance.)

I set goals and I really liked them and I was really good at them for a while. Nearly six months into the year I'm having a little self-evaluation and realizing that I need to renew my energies on those a bit. Here's a recap of my 2013 goals.

Spiritual: Read The Bible cover to cover.

Emotional: Purposefully serve a member of my family everyday.

Physical: Form a habit of going to bed hungry.

Mental: Read 30 books.

Word of the year: Listen

Reading The Bible was going really well for a while. I figured out that if I read 5 pages everyday I'd finish both the Old and New Testament in a year, with a few weeks to spare. Guys, The Bible is cool. I'm ashamed of this, but it's been years since I attempted reading it cover-to-cover and I was really into it. Then.... I hit Numbers.... so... boring....

Numbers is so boring.

You can only do this but only on this day and it should only be done for this long and only when certain things are certain ways and now let's list all of the certain ways that the things must be.

Boring.

But I'm finally in Deuteronomy and I am feeling renewed enjoyment and consistency on that goal. Ya scriptures!

Purposefully serving a member of my family really makes me more mentally conscious of how I serve them and the types of service that are hard for me. Leaving notes, investing time, not complaining when they ask for help, all those things make me think a little more and work a little harder. I really enjoy this goal but just need to be more intentional with it.

Going to bed hungry + newborn = I'm not exactly sure when "going to bed" happens anymore. I'll work on that one and get back to you.

Reading has been a renewed love of mine. I've read 22 books this year and so this goal is going pretty well. In the last six weeks my reading has seriously slowed down, but I'm reading Les Miserables right now and loving it. I love reading! I've been keeping track of what I've read and also writing short little delios about what I thought of the book. My list is here: goodreads list If you click on the "view" thing you can see my feedback. I know you're all super interested in investing hours in perusing my goodreads shelves. Please enjoy.

The word of the year concept was introduced to me by this blog that I love. www.71toes.com I started it last year (my word was "pause") and I absolutely love it. My goal this year was to practice listening to people more and fostering opportunities for me to listen (i.e. not talking so dang much). I feel like I'm doing poorly on this but I'm going to try harder. I also want to practice listening to my own self and the thoughts that come to me and the inspirations I feel. I get distracted and my ability to be still and listen gets weak sometimes.

Now that I've written all this out I'm so eager to refocus on these things! Bit by bit I'm beginning to see the benefits this blogging world offers. (Still not entirely convinced though.)

Happy Mid Year!

Today was a lazy day. I accomplished about 5% of what I was hoping to accomplish. And I'm dangerously okay with that. Here's why.

I got to spend some long overdue time with my Mom and sister today. We went to the Antique Mall and wandered around for several hours. Both my Mom and my sister have an eye for finding the really cool things that often get overlooked. I recommend both of them for antique shopping partners. Personally, I found out the maps were 50% off and spent somewhere around thirty minutes sorting through boxes of maps. I found some neat ones too. Observe this very bad photo.

That's a map of the Western States printed in 1881. $3 people! The other two were printed in 1911 and I paid $2.50. I was thrilled. Any of you map-fans in the Rockbridge area should go do some searching. I love the Antique Mall!

And then! I convinced my Mom and Kathryn to go to Pronto, the gelato shop in Lexington. I have two words for you: Toasted. Almond.

More like toasted-heaven-in-your-face. Can you see how happy we are?

It was so wonderful to spend some quality time with my family today. What a gift that we're all living in the same place right now! Our girl-time was long overdue. And it wasn't until later that I realized I could count it towards one of my 99 in 999. 54. Go on at least 4 lunch dates with Mom (1/4)

This was a wonderful and delicious way to start Mother's Day Weekend. Thanks for a wonderful day to my amazing mother and Kathryn (an incredible future mother).